


Poisonous

by DaiyoukaiGeisha



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Complete, Drama, Erotica, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-22 19:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3740632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaiyoukaiGeisha/pseuds/DaiyoukaiGeisha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was powerful, deadly, preternatural...and untouched. (Dokuga Awards: Q2 2009 2.0 Nominee - Best Lemonfic & Best Character Portrayal Sesshoumaru :: readershavechosen.com -  Sesshoumaru/Kagome Fics - Recommended Reading)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Poisonous

**Author's Note:**

> This was a story idea I (sorta) outlined a long time ago, but never wrote out or published. Saw the Spectrum Challenge kickin' around on LiveJournal and decided to re-work/write the story for it (and finally publish the dang thing). There are seven chapters total. Most of the chapters are "T" rated, but two of them are most definitely more "M" in nature (not raunchy in any way but they do include sexual content).
> 
> Color Prompt for Chapter 1: Green
> 
> Disclaimer - Inuyasha and all characters associated to that intellectual property belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz. This story, including all places, people, or objects, is written for non-profit entertainment purposes only.

She wasn't sure what compelled her to act so rashly. The last and fiercest battle against Magatsuhi had raged before her helpless eyes not long ago. Horror and malevolence blanketed the air as the jewel's power grew in strength to fuel its dark will. She had watched a demon lord fall. Witnessed the un-killable nearly be killed. Perhaps that is what began it?

Yet, she had seen so much battle, witnessed a lifetime's worth of death. Early on, she would have feared or been upset by such a scene. Now the spectacle and awe of battle was an all too common occurrence. So common that it barely moved her.

It's not like she was in any shape to assist another either. Magatsuhi had bound her power to purify, using an ancient spell that had apparently been conjured at her birth. Kagome had never felt as powerful as the others claimed she was, but stripped of her abilities she did feel exposed, defenseless. Now was not the time for sneaking through the forest alone in search of a demon that was part-enemy part-ally. So why did she risk it?

Although the danger was great Kagome didn't bother to hide herself. There wasn't any point. He would smell her long before he saw her through the foliage. She hugged her first aid kit tightly as she walked into the forest surrounding Kaede's village. She knew exactly where he was. He never bothered to hide his presence. Why would he? He feared nothing and no one, but everything had cause to fear him. His demonic aura lingered in the atmosphere like a warning siren made tangible. No being, animal or otherwise, occupied the area in natural reaction to a greater threat. No other being, except for her.

The patch of forest she was currently in was especially dense. The canopy of tree limbs above her head making midday seem more like dusk on the forest floor below. As she expected Sesshoumaru was alone, bracing his back against an old oak as he lounged comfortably before her. The demon's typically immaculate attire was tattered and smeared with drying blood, most of which was his own. His signature armor was a broken ruin and his Mokomoko-sama was even more worse for wear.

The only clean and undamaged portion of his body seemed to be his new arm, which she stared at for a moment with an almost scientific curiosity. Despite the obvious toll the battle had taken on his body, he managed to look both docile and innocent. Any unsuspecting good Samaritan would have been tempted to aid him, and most likely would have suffered for it.

Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to bolster her courage. Sesshoumaru was ignorant of her inner battle as he lay perfectly still, frozen in time. The picture made an odd parallel of how she came upon Inuyasha so long ago, wounded and sealed. The image strengthened her resolve, the demon lord clearly needed help.

Assistance was foremost in her mind, but her feelings did not include pity. This demon didn't deserve pity and he would not have appreciated the sentiment even if he did. He was cruel, calculating, and arrogant. Not much different from the evil being he fought so ardently against and still sought to utterly destroy.

Kagome wondered once again why she was there and her heart immediately answered, _"Because it is the right thing to do."_

The answer in her heart was always the same.

"Sesshoumaru?" she said clearly, still keeping her distance.

Her question was met with silence. Kagome stepped forward and it was then that she noticed he wasn't breathing. Without another thought she ran over, quickly placing the first aid kit next to him. Her mind focused solely on diagnosis and healing. Heedless to any dangers she reached into her kit and pulled out a mirror to place next to his mouth. No breath fogged the reflective surface.

"Oh no. Hold on!"

The words were more for her than for him. Sesshoumaru had not moved at all, as if he had already made his way to the netherworld.

After some effort and the benefit of pure adrenaline she was able to pull him flat to the ground. It was like pulling on a corpse, a heavy one, but she wasn't deterred. It might be too late but she had to try. His armor was so damaged that she would be able to reach the proper location on his chest as she performed CPR. His mouth was partly open showing hints of straight white teeth and fangs. She forced his mouth to widen a bit more, then took in a large intake of air before leaning down to begin.

Just before her lips reached his, magenta-stripped eyelids flew open revealing golden-amber tinged in red. Cats-eye pupils dilated rapidly before he pushed her away harshly and with such speed that Kagome flew backwards with a high-pitched yelp, landing on her back in a rumpled heap.

From one eye blink to the next he was on his feet, staring down at her with nothing but seething disdain.

"Explain yourself and be quick."

His words were low, calm, and lathered in menace. Claws once ivory white began to glow a luminescent green, destroying all that lived on the mossy floor beneath him in a crackling hiss and acrid smoke.

Kagome saw her death in every emerald droplet, heard the sound of her flesh melting with each drip from those long talons. She scooted backwards on the ground as he walked towards her.

"I-I was just trying to help you! You weren't breathing!"

He closed his eyes for a short moment, claws still spilling liquid death tinged an eerie jade.

"You foolish bitch. You are as impulsive as the half-breed claims."

Kagome watched in morbid fascination as the poison receded, turning curved claws from ominous green back to pristine white. By some deep magic she saw his armor begin to mend itself, his clothes slowly lose the telltale signs of blood and dirt. Only his precious silks remained torn and abused as he turned, heading further into the dense forest. Putting distance between himself and a mindless human girl who seemed to delight in walking the razor's edge.

It took a good hour before Kagome could get her legs to stop shaking.

"I don't understand it Sango," she said later that evening. "I was only trying to help him."

The whole episode still bothered her, so much so that she mentioned the event to the slayer. Kagome threw a twig angrily at the fire.

"Hrmph," she muttered, "He's as bad as his brother with that temper. What is it with dog demons and first aid anyway? I was just going to heal him." She paused, "Well, try to heal him at least."

"I don't think Sesshoumaru's aversion to you helping him had anything to do with your medicine Kagome. Inuyasha's brother is a poison user."

Kagome looked at her in confusion and Sango realized once again that her good friend's knowledge of demons was limited.

 _"What a strange future lay ahead,"_ Sango wondered, _"No demons and no understanding of them...and no need for demon slayers."_

Sango shook her head and continued, "If you would have tried to perform, uh, 'mouth-to-mouth' was it? Then there is a good chance you would have been poisoned. For a poison user of his strength you probably would have died. In a way, Sesshoumaru kept you from potentially harming yourself."

Kagome looked at the fire as understanding dawned on her. How could she have forgotten that? It wasn't uncommon for poisonous animals to transmit their toxins via saliva.

"I see. I-Ok, I feel like an idiot," she replied sheepishly.

"It's rare to find that trait in dog demons but it does happen. Don't worry about it," replied Sango, and smiled. "You are right. You were only trying to help. I'm sure on some level Sesshoumaru realizes that."

Kirara jumped into her lap and mewed in agreement.

Kagome continued to stare into the fire. Her friend's words giving her little comfort.

_"You foolish bitch."_

His sharp retort still echoed in her mind as she excused herself to get ready for bed.


	2. Decontamination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Color Prompt for Chapter 2: Orange

The next morning Sesshoumaru returned to the village only to have Totosai craft him a sheath for his new blade. Kagome tried to keep her distance. She caused the demon lord enough annoyance already, but she couldn't keep herself from stealing glances while she busied herself with some random task. Sesshoumaru waited patiently for the old demon weaponsmith to complete his work and Kagome thought on how well he had been named. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's father definitely possessed a gift for literal designations.

His eldest son's sword and claws could end a life quicker than anything, but a mindless demise was never given. Sesshoumaru did not let his demon blood overpower him. He wasn't ruled by the beast within, and that fact only made him a more efficient killer. Unlike Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru didn't destroy because he was pushed to it. He did it because he enjoyed it. The father produced a son tailor-made for death and destruction with a name to match. Kagome seemed to like the former dog general a little less for that fact.

Sesshoumaru noticed her milling around and purposefully refused to acknowledge her. Unease and slight embarrassment marred her scent, but her feelings were not his concern, or so he told himself. The priestess came upon him as he was regenerating, trying to regain his strength from a surprisingly intense fight. How she managed to breach his defenses and get so close was a mystery. Then again, the priestess had a knack for doing what was least expected.

He had growled in his mind when she pulled him to the ground like a sack of rice. He was even more shocked when she moved to embrace him. The girl reeked of worry and fear, not desire, but bent down as if to kiss him all the same. If he had hesitated a moment longer, he was sure she would have. Her actions were unnerving, but what grated on him most was the admission that for a brief moment between forced sleep and full wakefulness he had **_wanted_ ** her to do it.

Make no mistake, he harbored no amorous feelings for the priestess whatsoever. She was immature, ill-disciplined, and troublesome. Also her interest in his half-mongrel brother was so obvious that it was almost nauseating. No, that fleeting want did not stem from basic lust, only an unconscious yearning.

Never in all his many years had he been touched like a lover. Although he was well within the age to procreate, even that common act was impossible. For Sesshoumaru, there could be no heated caresses or simple carnal pleasures. To attempt to do so would only end in death. No sex...and no children. Nature and breeding made that an unpleasant reality. Both mother and father were poison users, powerful ones, and their dominate genetics formed an offspring with toxins so lethal it was a wonder the mother survived the pregnancy.

Sesshoumaru would never forget the day a new nursemaid gave him a quick peck on the lips. An innocent kiss for such a delightfully lovely and intelligent child. He would never forget the slow horror that flicked across his father's face when the demoness fell to the floor, clawing at her throat in gagging raspy coughs as she melted from the inside out. In a twisted irony, the strength of his pure line was the cause of the elder demon's unspoken dread. The father watched the female slowly die as his firstborn also watched with little expression, seemingly unmoved.

Sesshoumaru always believed he was resigned to his fate, even then. Yet, his curiosity, the need to _**know** _ at least once the intimacy of another almost overpowered him. That instant of weakness disturbed him greatly. He could not afford to show weakness now, not with Magatsuhi and Naraku nearly an inch away from his claws.

He examined his sword and its new sheath once more before securing it to his side. It was time to hunt.

"No, take me with you!!" yelled Jaken, sobbing into his pelt.

The imp continued to squawk in protest, completely ignored as his lord began to walk away.

"Sesshoumaru, you intend to follow after Magatsuhi, right?" said Inuyasha, his brother, his one true rival.

The emotions between them would always be strained.

 _"A poisoned relationship,"_ the demon lord mused, finding no humor in the thought.

"He is my prey," Sesshoumaru replied simply.

Then he took to the sky.

Kagome watched the demon lord fly upwards, feeling time slipping away as the distance between them became greater. Chances were high that he would defeat Magatsuhi, which would unseal her powers. But, it was also possible, albeit improbable, that he would fail. Sesshoumaru was not immortal. If that last battle taught him little else, it forced him to recognize his limitations as well as his strengths. This might be the last time she ever saw him.

"Sesshoumaru!"

He stopped in mid-air, looking down at her. She typically wore strange clothing, but the garment she chose to wear today flattered her form in ways that other bizarre attire did not.

The light cloth of her sundress matched the orange and white flowers that dotted the grass at her feet. When she yelled up to him she shielded her eyes from the sun. After she obtained his attention, she clasped them in front of her patiently, continuing to look up at him with those blue-grey eyes, so unusual for her kind.

The tainted jewel and the psychotic half-demon that wielded it were nipping at their heels. Yet this slip of a girl looked more capable serving tea than doing battle. But underneath that frail exterior he knew there was an odd type of steel. A hard metal hidden under a carefree attitude and mortal disadvantages. A fragile orange and white flower with ridiculously sharp thorns.

"Can I speak to you? Please, before you go?"

He had nothing to say to her. Why did he remain? He thought to ignore her and move on only to find himself landing next to her, facing away.

Kagome swallowed her apprehension and took a step towards him. She hadn't fully expected him to stop.

"I just want-" she said rapidly. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I didn't understand and I shouldn't have interfered."

She called to him, distracting him from the hunt, in order to offer a useless apology?

"Is that all?" He replied shortly. "I have no desire to suffer fools today."

Despite the situation, she felt a bit of anger creep around her senses.

"Are you going to accept my apology or just be rude?"

She sighed and spread her hands in a peaceful gesture that he could not see.

"Look, I know you don't think much of me, but just accept it, ok? Actually, I should be thanking you."

He looked at her then, a half-turn that allowed her to see one of his eyes narrow in distrust.

"Why?" he said plainly.

"Uh, your poison. I didn't realize that, uh, touching you like that could be dangerous."

She looked down at her feet. Feeling for all the world like an insect under a magnifying glass. Kagome thought the sun's rays were already burning her.

"Just believe me when I say I was only trying to help you," she added quietly.

Strange, this creature in orange and white. Her powers lay dormant, making her ripe for the picking by any enterprising demon Naraku could conjure. Anxiety was written in every line of her body. Not due to the imminent doom she faced, but his impending rejection after expressing her regrets.

"Your thanks are not necessary."

Kagome frowned at her feet, feeling even more the fool.

Then he added, "However, I will accept your apology."


	3. Pesticide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Color Prompt for Chapter 3: Violet

The stink of the half-demon's miasma was everywhere, hanging in the fleshy innards of this putrid make-shift prison.

It made his nose itch.

With one swipe of his claws more lesser demons fell. This was necessary, Naraku needed to fall this day and the key to his death lay within the unconscious human at his feet. Sesshoumaru knew that Naraku would keep them within his body for as long as possible. Torturing them all in turn by demons of his making and with inner demons of their own.

Kagome murmured and shifted on the damp living floor beneath her. She was disorientated and covered in wounds of nearly every color. Red welts, black and blue bruises, some tinged a dangerous shade of violet. Deep or shallow, bleeding or scabbed, every one of her injuries hurt like hell. It was a miracle she didn't brake anything. It was an even bigger miracle she was alive.

Kagome shook her head to clear it, intensifying the headache that pounded against her skull. Her guardian angel looked suspiciously like Inuyasha's brother.

_"Sesshoumaru?"_

He slashed at another foolhardy demon before walking away from her. The choice to follow would be her own. Through the haze of caustic vapors surrounding them he could smell his half-brother. Once again the boy had lost control. Pathetic.

Kagome fought to stand, then looked up to where she had originally fallen. Naraku's body had already morphed, making the previous cliff a solid wall. Somewhere beyond that wall Inuyasha was fighting against the jewel...and himself.

_"Just hold on until I find you, ok?"_

She half-hopped half-limped to catch up to her unlikely protector. Kagome hesitated in asking why he shielded her from Naraku's minions. She knew Sesshoumaru did nothing without a reason.

"Thank you for helping me back there," she said shyly.

"Your death would only please Naraku."

It was the reasoning she expected. He kept her alive because she still held value.

 _"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth...well, gift dog,"_ Kagome thought tiredly, wincing a bit at the stabbing pain in her shoulder.

It appeared the demon lord knew exactly where they needed to go, so she followed along silently. Occasionally a lesser demon would pop out of nowhere only to be slashed to bits. Sesshoumaru was swatting gnats and their little impromptu trip was rather uneventful. With nothing much to focus on besides pain, Kagome found herself studying the demon lord's pelt.

It moved along the ground, swishing this way and that like a squirmy tail. Sometimes it would grow rather longish and full, then it would scrunch up looking distinctly shorter. A fur-covered slinky. Kagome wasn't sure if he kept changing it or if it was doing it on its own. At one point it killed a demon that tried to sneak up on them from behind. It barely got dirty afterward, the fur wasn't even ruffled. Barring the fact that they were surrounded by someone's internal organs, it was the weirdest thing she had ever seen.

_"I'm dying to ask him what that is, but a part of me really doesn't want to know. Looks comfortable though. He's always wearing it, so it has to be comfy."_

The fuzzy fashion statement brushed against her exposed legs for probably the fifth time. Kagome's palms itched. It was like Inuyasha's ears. The thing was practically begging her to touch it! She was probably going to die at any second, but she refused to expire before cuddling that length-changing self-cleaning furry boa at least once. Besides, if she had to choose the manner of her death, she'd rather be killed by Sesshoumaru than Naraku any day.

She slyly poked it. Both Sesshoumaru and 'it' didn't seem to notice.

She gave it a tiny caress with the tips of her fingers. No reaction.

Finally she gave in and put her arm around it slowly, letting the fine silky hairs tickle her skin.

_"OOooo. No wonder Jaken likes grabbing on to this thing so much."_

"Girl."

She froze.

"If you need assistance keeping your balance, very well," he said coldly, "but do _**not** _ fondle me."

"I wasn't-"

He gave her a look over his shoulder that clearly signaled that she was walking on thin ice. The malformed protests caught in her throat.

"Uh, right," she said sheepishly, slowly pulling her arm away from the pelt.

Sesshoumaru slashed through another wall of pulsing flesh. Even while in the heat of battle the girl's mind could not stay on it. She should be looking for dangers, instead she was petting him. Ridiculous.

He told her the truth. He saved her because foiling any of Naraku's plans, no matter how minor, could tip the scales in this fight. Sesshoumaru had no idea what real power the girl held, but she had enough for Magatsuhi to fear it. Keeping her alive was merely good tactics.

The other truth, the unspoken truth, was that her death would not sit well on his conscience. In many ways the priestess was like the slayer child, Kohaku. Totally unfit for the role she had been assigned at birth. Kohaku was too kindhearted, too soft to follow the hard path of a demon slayer. Kagome was the same. She was too pitying and sympathetic to adequately fulfill the austere ways of a priestess.

However, his general attitude toward Kohaku was comparable to Rin. Unmet paternal instincts to foster offspring drove his conscious mind. With Kagome it was different. She didn't share the same place in his mind as his ward and the slayer child. He wasn't sure she had a proper place, but she lingered in his conscious nonetheless.

"AAhhh!"

Kagome's sudden scream had him turning and standing next to her in a second. She briefly lost her footing on the narrow path they followed. He caught her just before she began to slip away.

Sesshoumaru braced her arm to keep her upright as he looked down at her leg. She held it at an odd angle and he saw the muscles trembling under the strain.

"Can you continue?"

If Kagome didn't know better, she would have sworn he sounded concerned. She delicately prodded a purplish violet gash on her lower thigh. It stung and was probably infected with God-knows-what, but she would live.

"Yes, I'm ok. It looks a lot worse than it feels."

He took her arm and gently placed it back around his pelt, forcing her to lean against it for support.

"Do not let go."

She didn't.

Their journey resumed, with each of them lost in thought. Kagome did try to speak to him once more. Pleading for him to spare his brother as he attacked Magatsuhi. He barely heard her. Sesshoumaru closed off part of his mind. The niche she currently occupied and was disturbingly proficient in muddling. He focused instead on ripping through every barrier to reach his prey. The impending kill was what mattered most. Magatsuhi's death would ensure his victory over Naraku. These disjointed emotions she invoked would serve little purpose, other than getting them both killed.

Magatsuhi was correct, she was something to be feared, a dangerous thing. A force that might become more perilous after her powers were unsealed.

Eventually they reached Inuyasha, the dark will of the jewel directing him like a puppet master. The half-demon came after them immediately, wild-eyed and completely feral. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at Magatushi's shadowy aura. It would be so easy. One attack from the Bakusaiga would tear his brother apart, leaving Magatsuhi completely exposed. The words of a battered priestess with blue-grey eyes fought past the quarantined corner of his mind, _"You can do it Sesshoumaru! You can defeat Magatsuhi without hurting Inuyasha!"_

Sesshoumaru's hand hovered over the hilt of his blade, but he did not draw.

"You stay here. You will just get in the way."

Kagome never knew his statement held dual meaning.


	4. Antidote

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Color Prompt for Chapter 4: Blue
> 
> Note: This chapter has a little bit of sexy-times. Again, nothing raunchy, but there is sexual content.

Three years.

He watched his half-brother travel back and forth from the village to where the Bone Eater's Well once stood for three years.

To a demon, three years were more akin to three seconds. A sliver of time that normally meant very little. These years were different. That span of time was not a sliver, but a chasm. A large empty space that his brother dwelled in. Where they both dwelled.

Sesshoumaru never bothered visiting the site of the old well. Deep down he knew that if...when she returned, it would not be for him. Only the half-demon could call her back. The magic of the well called to their souls, not his, or so he told himself.

Now here she was, leaning casually against Goshinboku. Looking a littler older, perhaps a bit wiser, but not any less dangerous.

The subtle changes in her face and body surprised him, and he had to remind himself that she was mortal. Only the piece of her that lingered in his mind and refused to leave was truly eternal.

"You have returned."

"Yes, the well allowed me to come back."

"Why?"

His voice held only mild interest, no contempt or annoyance.

"It was time," she replied simply.

That was the only answer she had and it was enough.

"You will wed Inuyasha."

A statement.

"Yes."

"Why?"

This time the term was laden in snide sarcasm. As if the single word held a more complete query, _"Why would **you** want someone like **him** ?"_

Kagome answered the question hidden beneath the derisive tone.

"He makes me feel alive. When he holds me...When he kisses me, I know I'm the only one in the world for him."

"Your answer is lacking. This Sesshoumaru has never felt the touch of another in that way."

 _"Poison user,"_ thought Kagome, the words popping to the forefront almost immediately.

The demon before her was struggling to understand something he never experienced. What meaning did a kiss hold to someone who could not be kissed? What love could he see within the act of holding another in passion when only death followed afterward? After all these years, Kagome came to a sad realization.

Sesshoumaru was cursed.

His perfect bloodline, his proud pedigree, had given him absolute power while dooming him to a grim existence devoid of feeling, touch, and all the joys and sorrows that came with it.

Perhaps that was why the father bequeathed him the Tenseiga. Not just for him to learn compassion, but for him to be able to at least have the chance to give life back to whomever he finally decided to give his heart to?

She brushed the sentimental notion off. Even after all this time was she still such an incurable romantic?

Kagome smiled and Sesshoumaru raised a slim eyebrow at her grin.

 _"I guess I am,"_ she thought ruefully.

Kagome moved to stand next to him, so close that she clearly invaded his space. The demon lord wasn't sure if he should reprimand her for her audacity or move away. Then she raised her arms, placing them around his neck as if to place her lips on his. He stepped back, only for her to step forward drawing closer to him than before. Sesshoumaru grabbed her hands but she continued to hold him.

For the first time ever, the demon lord panicked.

"Are you mad?" he said in a hiss.

Kagome thought she heard fear.

"No, for once I'm not being reckless."

His hands stayed still, no longer trying to pull her away. What was she doing? What was **_he_ ** doing?

"Why?" he breathed quietly.

Again, a single word that was more than the sum of its parts. A simple question that held so much more meaning under the surface.

Her lips brushed against his as she spoke. "Because I think you need this. More than anyone."

If light held a flavor, she shared it with him in that one kiss. Sunshine and radiance, bright and burning. Her lips were cool against his, but he felt the heat of her scorch down his throat into his stomach where it continued to smolder.

She was purifying his poison. Her power melting it away to nothing as she slid her tongue over his. His eyes were troubled, but hers were calm. A shimmering ocean of blue-grey that drowned the world around them, but did not extinguish that light, that heat.

Sesshoumaru felt his eyelids grow heavy, then close. She dominated the kiss and he let her. Let her take him deeper into that vast wine-dark sea. Let the light that poured from her mouth into his sear him hollow.

Could you drown and combust at the same time? It seemed so. It felt so. And he was all too willing to die.

She controlled the kiss and she was the one to end it, but he did not release her.

Kagome gave him a shy smile. "My powers have grown quite a bit in three years."

He didn't know what to say to that. He wasn't sure if anything he did say would be coherent. So he wisely stayed silent.

Kagome tugged her hands in his grip and he slowly but hesitantly released them. He thought she would back away. She didn't. Instead she ran those hands down his face, tracing his markings, skimming over his lips. Mapping each feature into her memory with touch.

Somehow Sesshoumaru found his voice and the name that tumbled out surprised them both.

"Inuyasha."

Kagome shook her head, unfastening one buckle on his armor, then another.

"This isn't about him. This is for you." Then she thought a moment. "No, that's not true. It's for me too."

She rubbed his pelt against her cheek with a smile before letting it fall to the ground.

"I do not understand." His voice was breathy.

Sesshoumaru wanted so badly to touch her, but kept his own hands still. He also wanted her explanation. If she gave a response that displeased him, would he force her to stop? He wasn't sure. That kiss was a spell in disguise, robbing him of his will and his hands began to move even before she gave her reply.

"I still want to be with him, this doesn't change that. My time with him will not be my last time. This time with you..."

 _"Will be our only time,"_ he finished in his mind.

She was giving away her virginity to him and he was doing the same for her. Their first time and their last time.

And he could not turn her away.

He practically dove for her and she fell against him. Sesshoumaru had no idea how to proceed, but his instincts guided him where logical thought failed. He kissed her again and it lacked any finesse. It was sloppy and rough, but made her moan all the same.

"Slowly," she whispered, and her voice shook. "Go slowly."

Once again he let her have the control, be the dominate. Only when he lay above her, just short of entering, did he force her to yield.

"You will never forget this," he said quietly, as his breathing became strained and his markings grew jagged.

"When you are alone, you will remember," he continued. "When you are with _**him** _ , you will remember."

He thrust in to her, deep and fast. Holding back nothing and giving her everything. He was so hard, painfully so. Every follicle on his body quivered and he could feel each one independently.

Kagome lifted her hips as she bit down on her tongue, too far gone to feel the pain of it. She knew every word he spoke was the truth. She would never forget this, not ever.

Sesshoumaru feared he'd come before her, that he wouldn't last more than a minute inside her heat. Then he feared he'd take too long. It made him laugh. A low masculine sound that erased the last vestiges of her pain and heightened the pleasure.

They rocked against each other as if they had done this a thousand times before. Moving together like two halves of a whole. Sesshoumaru felt like he was melting, unsure where she ended and he began. He watched his length move in and out, fast then faster. All too soon he was pounding her. He heard screaming, elated moans, and then realized it was his own voice.

Kagome didn't cry out when her orgasm washed over her. She kissed him instead, releasing her moans within him, pushing him into his own release. He shuddered as he climaxed, the sensation shooting down his spine like jolts of lightening, making his vision go white.

They laid in Goshinboku's shadow for a long time. It was Kagome who rose first. Dressing with the same slow patience as she was undressed, with the same calm she held in her eyes.

Sesshoumaru wasn't ready to leave. He didn't know if he would ever be ready.

"Do you love him?" he said, looking up at the old tree.

"Yes."

"And me?" he whispered.

She never hesitated.

"Yes."

He heard the grass swish beneath her feet as she began to walk away.

"Goodbye Sesshoumaru."

He continued to listen to her footsteps, hearing them grow dimmer and dimmer until there was only silence.


	5. Toxic Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Color Prompt for Chapter 5: Yellow

Sesshoumaru wandered after that day. He ordered Jaken to look after Rin and simply vanished. In truth, he fled, allowing himself to wallow in the mysteries that lay beyond the western lands, beyond Japan. It was so much easier to face the unknown in a distant land than to remain.

He was a coward. Over the slow passage of years he acknowledged that fact. The demon lord of the west and son of the last great dog general ran from that kiss, that first time and last time. He ran away from her as far as his power could take him. Sesshoumaru ran because he refused to watch her live out her life with another. To stand in silence as his brother built a family that could have been his. Should have been his. Would never be his.

For years he thought he could find her replacement, another female with power that could ignore the poison in his blood. He found other females, some stronger than any in Japan, but they were poor substitutes. She was his first time and his last time, and not so easily replaced.

He drifted. Supreme conquest was all he had left to him, so he immersed himself in it. A goal was his lover, a jealous one that demanded everything and gave back nothing. Every continent held a new challenger, every successful battle made him stronger still.

The most powerful coward in the known world.

At long last he found his way back to the mainland, so close to Japan that he could smell its fragrance across the sea. It was calling him back, tugging impatiently on his soul. He stubbornly refused to comply, putting himself in limbo instead. A nowhere place between past and present.

Sesshoumaru stayed at an inn as close to the ports as he dared to go. The clientele was a mix of human and demon. Those who wanted to be seen and others who wished to remain hidden.

"You cheated me!"

Yellow coins, cylindrical golden treasures that held sway in every land, were thrown harshly to the ground in righteous anger.

This particular inn was not the best establishment for a quiet drink and self-reflection.

"Eh? You must be mistaken."

"You sneaky little shit! Give me back my winnings!" said a grizzled human male, more bear than man.

The bear stalked angrily toward the smaller source of his fury.

In a quick sleight of hand a set of dice disappeared and a long dagger materialized in its place.

"I didn't quite hear you. You said something about, winnings?" replied the smaller male in a voice that was both serious and chiding.

The bigger man hesitated, then spat on the floor in a final act of defiance before storming out of the inn.

The other male tsk'ed and the dice reappeared. "That's what I thought...drunken amateur."

"Cheating humans must grow tiresome," said Sesshoumaru.

The man stood deathly still, discreetly palming his dagger once more.

"A blade and not a toy? Surprising."

The dagger dipped, going slightly limp in a shaking hand.

"Sesshoumaru?"

For a moment the man's voice held the same awed innocence it used to hold as a child. If his demonic aura had not given him away, then the shock of red hair mixed with startling green eyes was enough to fully identify him. The small fox kit he knew was now a full grown male, and a very rotund male at that. What the fox lacked in height, he made up for in girth. The former kit known as Shippo was traveling the world, just like himself, and apparently sampling the exotic cuisine the entire way.

"It took me a moment to realize it was you," said Shippo, surprise still in his voice.

"I could say the same."

The fox grinned. "Yeah, I've grown a few inches."

"And a few pounds," Sesshoumaru replied casually.

Shippo blinked, then he laughed, long and loud before patting his stomach with mocking pride.

"And you have gained a sense of humor. I guess the world beyond Japan does hold wonders!"

The fox and the dog shared a meal, with the fox eating for both of them. Sesshoumaru didn't ask it of him, but Shippo took it upon himself to catch the demon lord up on current events. The dog pretended to listen with a half-ear, but in reality he hung on every blessed word.

"I stayed with Sango and Miroku for a while, but it got too crowded in the end...Ten children." The fox shuddered. "They've repopulated the old slayer village on their own," he added dryly. He grabbed another slice of meat before continuing. "Rin married you know? A merchant. A good man I think. Jaken cried and squawked about him, but she wore the imp down. I left shortly after the wedding."

Sesshoumaru knew about the marriage. Despite his craven desire to keep his distance, he was still her guardian. Although she was a woman grown, now most likely with a family of her own, she would forever be his ward. His only child, and he had missed her wedding. Another bit of remorse to toss into the bottomless pit of repentance that threatened day by day to swallow him whole.

"Inuyasha and Kagome. They're still together." Shippo paused, not quite sure whether to tread on such touchy ground. Then again, taking risks was his business. "And Inuyasha is...Well, he's a mountain, tough and weathered as always. Kagome still manages to keep him in line though. How she manages it is still a mystery." He took a sip of his drink and added quietly, "She never said so, but she missed you after you left."

Sesshoumaru wondered if the fox knew about them, not that it mattered.

"Is she well?" he asked softly.

Shippo gave him a weighted look before he answered. "No. She's sick Sesshoumaru. She never fully recovered after their last child years ago. Kagome put a good face on it at Rin's wedding, but it was plain she wasn't well."

Last child. He wondered how many they had. If they were as prolific as the monk and slayer. What would her offspring be like? What kind of mother did she turn out to be? He might never know. She was dying. That was the verity masked beneath the fox's words.

All mortals die, it was the order of things. Yet, it was always so hard for him to see her as mortal. Even as time moved swiftly forward and he lurched in perpetual exile, she remained ageless, everlasting. That was not reality. In reality, she was dying. An orange and white flower with yellowing petals. A dangerous bloom with thorns that were already dull.

"It's one of the reasons why I left Japan to be honest," said Shippo after a long silence. "Call me a coward, but I didn't want to sit around and watch her fade."

_"Call me a coward."_

Sesshoumaru left the inn that night, and was on a trade ship headed for Japan the following morning.


	6. Transfusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Color Prompt for Chapter 6: Red
> 
> Note: A little more sexy-times :)

Her blue-black hair was shot through with grey, held up in a practical bun as she milled around her home completing small chores. She wore a simple beige kimono appropriate to a woman in the crux of middle-age, understated and tasteful.

Sesshoumaru suddenly missed her more outlandish attire.

When she used an item or carefully moved some random object, he saw the fine tremor in her hands. Her scent was rich and mild as always, and as he expected, laden with the common signs of decay that all mortals possessed. Her aroma tickled his keen senses, as if she were some rare vintage worth swirling around on your tongue. A fragrant perfume with a little something more, an additive that was not simply age. An extra ingredient that was slowly destroying her.

The fox was correct. She put a good face on her pain.

"Where is the mongrel?"

She gave him a frown for the 'mongrel' remark. No amount of years were enough to dissipate the bitterness between them it seemed.

"Helping a nearby village that asked for assistance. He can't sit still when there is a battle to be fought." She crossed her arms. "Like you," she added pointedly.

Sesshoumaru dodged the barb that was a little to close to its mark.

"He left you alone?"

The words held a disgust only ill thoughts of his brother could wrest from him. Then, as now, Kagome saw the hidden question within a question. _"He left you alone? In your condition?"_

"I told him to go. Inuyasha was never the charitable type...like you," she giggled as she said the last, and the laugh was both old and young.

She looked at him as she chuckled and Sesshoumaru noticed lines around those captivating eyes. Laugh lines etched lovingly into her skin. He thought they made them more striking. At least the half-breed kept her happy.

"Do you intend to point out our similarities all night?" he replied, feigning boredom.

"No, I was hoping for a better conversation actually." Her voice still held humor, but her next words did not. "I missed you."

He smirked. "So I've heard."

She raised an eyebrow.

"The fox kit," he added.

"You've seen Shippo?" Her voice was a mother's voice, full of hope and concern for a chick who had flown the nest. "How is he?"

The smirk widened into a tiny grin. "Fat, but well."

Kagome blushed, a pale shade of rose that warmed him.

"I take the blame for that. He has a wicked obsession for sweets thanks to me."

The smile faded. "He also said you had children."

He didn't know exactly why he brought up a subject he feared so much. Perhaps he was truly tired of playing the coward.

"We tried." Her voice was small, tired.

They had tried and failed, again and again. The joy of pregnancy, the sorrow of a miscarriage. The elation in creating a new life, the grief of producing a stillborn.

"You know a part of me hoped, after our time together...I hoped I was pregnant."

How many times had he sat alone halfway across the globe sharing the same sentiment? Hoping against the odds that the very situation she longed for occurred, while dreading the possibility at the same time.

He closed his eyes, but it did not blind his thoughts.

"That would not have sat well with my half-brother."

Direct. Honest.

"I know. But it wasn't about him."

"It was about you," he completed, looking at her once more.

She shook her head.

"No. It was about you."

"About us," he corrected, and realized his throat had gone dry.

Her voice caught. "Yes."

Those blue-grey eyes held silver tears, but she did not let them fall. She came to him instead, walking towards him with an air of tranquility that only she seemed capable of wielding. That same patient calm as the first time.

Her hands found his body at the same moment his found hers.

"I thought the first time was meant to be our only time?" he said chidingly, displaying a hard-earned humor uncovered by wisdom.

She gave a sly grin. "I guess I lied."

He tilted her face up to his. "Now you owe me yet another apology girl."

Sesshoumaru pulled the binding from her hair that held the bun and the wavy strands framed her face.

"I prefer it down," he whispered.

This time, he kissed her first.

He went slowly, so slowly, like the first time. Cherishing every soft moan, tender caress, languid motion, as if it were their last time.

She was in pain, so he gave her comfort. She had grown older, so he gave her back a portion of her youth.

They replayed their first joining over and over. Each time more passionate than the last, every climax more intense than the previous.

Kagome found her voice at one point, just after her last orgasm, hard on the heels of the next.

"You were right," she whispered, sliding against him, back bowed, hands clinging. "I always remembered. Whenever I was alone. Whenever I wasn't."

_"I still love you."_

"So did I," he replied, going over the edge, taking her with him.

_"I will always love you."_

They held each other until morning. Neither rising to dress, no one attempting to walk away.

"I miss the pelt," she said after a time, with a lilt of nostalgia before drifting to sleep.

"Hn." He kissed her tenderly, but she was already dreaming.

_"Silly girl."_

Kagome died several months later.

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha kept a reasonable distance from each other before she passed. When one was present, the other was conveniently absent. An unspoken agreement that neither tested.

It was only after her funeral that the brothers said more than two words to one another. Blood brothers with similar features, reciprocal faults, standing side-by-side over the grave of the same woman, the same love.

"I never understood what she saw in your stuck up ass," Inuyasha said bluntly.

They could never go too long without confrontation.

"Hn, the confusion is mutual. You were hardly worthy of her," replied Sesshoumaru.

"And you were?"

The words held no anger, only a questioning. _"What might have been, if she chose **you** over **me** ?"_

Sesshoumaru placed a single orange and white flower next to the vibrant cluster of red blossoms that his brother laid down just before.

"It seems we will never know," Sesshoumaru said softly.

Inuyasha looked off into the distance. "So it seems."

Sesshoumaru didn't say goodbye, neither did Inuyasha. After all this time they were still rivals.


	7. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Color Prompt for Chapter 7: Indigo

Today he was late. He was _**never** _ late.

Negotiating took time, cajoling philanthropists took effort, and Sesshoumaru found himself rushing from a conference as quickly as possible without drawing attention.

Demons still roamed the Earth. They were diminished, but not lost. Nature demanded that their existence be preserved. Humans held sway in the daylight, but demons ruled from the shadow. A symbiotic relationship that began long ago, well before his time.

Over the ages, as demonic power and strength of sword began to fail, science filled the void. Sesshoumaru made certain to help foster it along. A yearly shot in the arm, a pill taken twice daily, and even the strongest of poisons could be forced to lay dormant. Modern medicine was truly a wondrous thing.

He checked his watch as the sliding glass double-doors flung open, dropping him into the hustle and bustle streets of Tokyo.

Sesshoumaru heard a yell just before a cup full of piping hot tea and some kind of powdery sugar slapped him hard right in the center of his chest. Leaving a wet whitish stain behind on a formerly immaculate indigo dress shirt.

Sesshoumaru frowned deeply. He hated doing laundry almost as much as he despised being late.

"Excuse me! I'm so sorry!" said an older woman at his feet.

She scrambled on the ground hurriedly, in a futile attempt to save what was left of her meal as well as the items that had fallen from her purse.

Sesshoumaru said nothing, he was partly to blame for letting his mind wander in his haste to return home. He knelt down to help her gather her things and casually picked up the woman's wallet. It had partly opened, revealing her credit cards, ID, and a few cherished photographs.

Blue-grey eyes smiled back at him through the plastic of the wallet, peering into his face with a serenity he hadn't felt in centuries. And for a moment the world stopped spinning.

His eyes landed upon the older woman as she finally rose to stand. The shape of her nose, the fullness of her lips, even the scent of her was familiar. Similarities marred only by the subtle differences between parent and offspring, mother and daughter.

At least now he knew why she was so incredibly clumsy.

"You dropped this," he said softly.

It was then that the woman took complete notice of the obstacle she accidentally barreled into. White, silver, golden-amber.

 _Demon,_ she thought instantly.

She knew at a glance that he was "other", just like the one he reminded her of.

The male before her was taller, more svelte, and despite the color the eyes were different, more slanted than round. Their skin was not the same either, the one in her memory was sun-kissed and warm, like a spring day falling into summer. This man was moon touched, cool as autumn just on the edge of winter.

Where the one in her mind was too adorable for words, the one that stood in front of her was nothing short of beautiful, and she found it hard to breathe. If she wasn't so startled, and about 25 years younger, she would have blushed.

"Oh, thank you."

She reached to take the wallet from him and noticed how fixated he was on the picture.

"My daughter, Kagome," she said happily. "She graduated high school last year."

_"Last year."_

Meaning she had already returned to Sengoku Jidai, already joined him under the branches of Goshinboku. Alive and well in another era, another place and time.

He smiled. "Congratulations."

With nothing left to be said or seen, and a ruined shirt to change out of, he started to leave.

"Wait!" said Kagome's mother. "Please excuse me, but I must ask."

He saw her throat move as she swallowed hard.

"Are you-Did you know my daughter?" Suddenly she looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, it's just...Well, you look so much like a boy she knew."

Did he know her? How should he answer? That she was the first girl he ever truly kissed. That she was the first woman he surrendered himself to, and that he was her first man. That her daughter was his orange and white flower blooming forever in his long memory.

Did he know her? Of course, he loved her.

Instead he replied, "Yes, I knew Kagome."

Her eyes began to grow wide. "Then you're a-"

She didn't need to finish.

"Yes."

She shifted the bag in her hands absentmindedly, looking at him with a parent's worried gaze.

"Is she..." then she seemed to remember the steadfast rules of time, "was she happy?"

He remembered a quick smile, a girlish giggle, laugh lines on skin.

"Always."

Kagome's mother let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Goodbye Mrs. Higurashi."

A crowded train ride later he arrived at his destination, incredibly late. So late he would normally be angry, but he couldn't grasp that emotion, not today. Not when he felt so completely at peace.

"You're late. You're never late," said the babysitter.

"My apologies, I ran into someone I knew on the way over," he replied. _"Literally,"_ he thought wryly.

"It's no trouble believe me. I love babysitting Hanako. Uh, she's been trying to get into things she shouldn't again though. I swear the kid's a thrill seeker!"

"Hn."

Sesshoumaru gently took his drowsy daughter, his adopted daughter, from the babysitter's arms. She was abandoned in the maternity ward of one of the many hospitals he helped fund. The mother had given birth only to disappear at the first opportunity. An unwanted pregnancy, like so many others he had witnessed.

When he saw her in the nursery, he fell in love for the second time.

Hanako's head lolled before she snuggled unconsciously into her father's side. The babysitter silently waved goodbye before heading out. The sound of the front door closing jarred the small child into semi-wakefulness.

"Daddy?"

"Hmm?"

She yawned, showing baby teeth and gums. "Tired."

"I see that," he replied dryly.

"But I want a story."

"Which one?"

"My favorite one. About the white doggie and the magical girl."

He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. "Ah, the _only_ one you will force yourself to stay awake for. No stories, it is nap time now."

He tried to make the words sound hard and final. It didn't work, it never did.

"Please?"

The child snuggled closer, pulling a face only a daddy's girl can master. Sesshoumaru held back a sigh and took her to her room. After tucking her in, he sat gently on the corner of the bed.

Hanako stayed quiet and let her father have his moment, holding that faraway look he always kept whenever he told this particular tale. Pulling every detail from memory before beginning to speak it aloud like a song.

"Once, there was a well..."

**~ Fin ~**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really the last chapter. I had one more color left in order to complete the challenge. :) Besides I didn't want it all to end at Kagome's grave. That's a bit too sad, even for me.
> 
> Kagome was his orange and white flower. Hanako means "flower child".
> 
> I really enjoyed writing this story and I hope others enjoyed reading it.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like Sesshoumaru/Kagome fics, I recommend everything on this list (especially anything from Resmiranda): http://www.readershavechosen.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123:sesshoumarukagome-fics&catid=45:inuyasha


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